A GEORGE III ARTIFICAL 'COADE' STONE UNICORN ROYAL ARMORIAL BEARER

The present lot would have originally formed the left section of a Royal Armorial. These were in great demand in Georgian times for businesses which had received a Royal Warrant to supply a commodity or service. Such firms were and still are, entitled to display the Royal Arms on their premises.
In 1799 Mrs Coade said that she had supplied Royal Arms, presumably Warrant holders, in Bond Street, Great Queen Street, Charing Cross, Strand, Long Acre, Fleet Street, St James' Street and Piccadilly. Official buildings also had their Royal arms. The pediment above the entrance to The New Bethlehem Hospital, now the Imperial War Museum, is centred by a "King Arm Couchant" and shows close similarities to the current lot. A. Kelly, Mrs Coade's Stone, Upton-upon-Severn, 1991, p. 273-4.